1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for quantitatively determining the amount of saturates, olefins, and aromatic components in mixtures thereof.
2. Background of the Disclosure
The separation and quantitation of saturates, olefins, aromatics, and polar components present in petroleum products traditionally is performed by liquid chromatography (LC). As is known, however, liquid chromatographic methods are slow and labor intensive. Depending upon the compounds present in the mixtures, the separation efficiency may be limited and the precision achieved may be low. Therefore, in the petroleum industry the standard method for determining olefins, saturates, and aromatics in gasoline and jet fuels, for example, is the so-called fluorescence indicator adsorption method (FIA). Unfortunately, this technique fails to measure low levels of olefins and is interfered with by the presence of color and also the presence of components lighter than hexane.
With the advances that have been made in the field of chromatography and especially with the advent of supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC), attempts have been made to take advantage of these advances to develop better measurement techniques. Thus, a flame ionization detector (FID) has been used in the measurement of aromatics and saturates present in middle distillates after separation by SFC. This technique, however, is insufficient for analysis of hydrocarbon mixtures containing olefins, saturated hydrocarbons, and aromatics because olefins are not separated from saturates in SFC.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a method whereby the quantitative amount of saturates, olefins and aromatics in a composition are easily and quickly determined.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for quantitatively determining the amount of olefins, saturates, and aromatics that eliminates the need to separate the olefins and saturates in a composition.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, particularly upon reading the examples and disclosures herein.